because geeks are curious

Why I Like Republic Wireless

Liking Freedom

After years of buying into 2-year contracts with cell phone carriers, I finally broke free! I must give credit to Republic Wireless for that, and also to Walt Mossberg; his latest review of RW’s new technology gave me the push to give it a go! OK, also, Amazon’s Prime deal on a couple of phones helped too. So if, like me, you try to be frugal and minimal, or you like affordable and simple, read on.

I’ve had the candy bar phone. The flip phone. The iPhone. The Android smartphone. All on 2-year contracts. Every time. And that despite always wishing for a cheaper alternative that didn’t lock me into a service agreement. And until recently, the few options that fit the bill had too many caveats, required me to give up too much, or in some way had deal-breakers.

Affordable

The deal I ended up going with is on Republic Wireless 3.0 plans. A modern smartphone with plenty of data and unlimited calls and texts: $20 per month.

$20!

It may seem too good to be true, but it’s totally true. I don’t think there’s a better deal out there. So RW is affordable, which may be it’s best feature. The benefit: I save a lot of money for other things.

Simple

RW is also simple. I was able to buy an unlocked phone from Amazon, pop in an RW SIM card, download the RW app, and got signed up and running right away, even porting my number from my locked Verizon phone (contract fulfilled). The website, the app, and the way RW service works…it’s all very straightforward.

How can this all be true? Republic Wireless works differently than the big 4 carriers. They rely mostly on Wi-Fi for phone service instead of using cell towers so much. Also, I think they’re what’s called an MVNO. Basically that means when they do use cell towers, the piggy-back on towers maintained by the big 4 carriers.

Reliable

However it all works, I have found RW reliable. Most of the time, I get LTE data and cell coverage. Even in the rural area I live north of Abilene, TX (piggy-backing on T-Mobile), I get coverage (albeit spotty sometimes).

If you’re thinking about trying Republic Wireless, the thing that helps is the fact that you can buy a really good phone for cheap, one that is unlocked. That means it works on any cell carrier instead of only one. So you can buy a phone you like and try it on RW, and if it doesn’t work out, you’re free to try your phone on any other carrier!

This is what helped me try RW for myself. No lock-in. No contract. No exorbitant fees. No high prices. No strings attached. No non-sense. No gimmicks. And by the way, their community support forums are helpful. RW has a grass-roots, friendly vibe to it. I think the word for it would be authentic.

And that’s why I am sharing this info with you. This is not a sponsored post. I was not contacted by anyone to do this. I just really like Republic Wireless and want to tell you about them; there are really great options besides the big 4 carriers!

If you want to break free from expensive cell phone plans, give Republic Wireless a call!